Cholera outbreak in Haiti kills 132 people in 2014

PORT-AU-PRINCE (AFP) – Haiti’s cholera epidemic has killed 132 people and may have infected nearly 15,000 others so far this year, a UN agency report said Wednesday.

The Caribbean country’s cholera outbreak started in 2010 and “an unacceptable number of people have been affected, with nearly 712,330 suspected cases and an estimated 8,655 deaths,” the report by the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, citing Haiti’s public health ministry.

In 2014, there have been a suspected 14,869 cases and 132 deaths recorded, the report said.

Aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres said there was a lack of beds for patients to recover.

“A majority of the Haitian population remain exposed to cholera due to lack of access to clean water and latrines, the treatment capacity of the sick is still inadequate,” MSF said.

OCHA has seen a “very significant increase” in the incidence in cholera in the metropolitan areas of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas since late September, partly due to strong rains.

“Patients come to us in critical condition as there is no system in place to provide urgent care, despite the existence of a national plan for the elimination of cholera, said Oliver Schulz, head of MSF in Haiti.